India Inc Comes Up with Sector-Wise Guidelines for Unlock 3.0- Covid-19

For the beleaguered tourism and hospitality sector, effective marketing campaigns with an emphasis on safety precautions involving both firms and the government would help restore confidence of tourists, the report said.

Pushing for the lifting of restrictions on international travel, tourism, theatres, live events and schools, Indian industry has come out with a detailed set of sector-wise operating guidelines to coincide with phase three of the unlock, beginning from August 1.

The recommendations range from a ‘safe corridor’ between two countries to gaps between movie timings to ensure no crowd build up at theatres, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) report released on Monday.

Apart from being among the worst hit sectors during the pandemic, industries like aviation, tourism and sports have not yet been entirely exempted from lockdown restrictions.

While lifting the restrictions on international air travel, the report suggested setting up a safety corridor between airports in which India could allow foreigners entry on a reciprocal basis. This would involve standardised quarantine protocols and waiver of quarantine requirements based on Covid negative certificates from designated testing facilities.

For the beleaguered tourism and hospitality sector, effective marketing campaigns with an emphasis on safety precautions involving both firms and the government would help restore confidence of tourists, the report said.

This would have to be preceded by a clear date for opening of states, monuments and other tourist destinations to ensure consistency and to allow the industry to prepare for the inflow, it said.

In terms of live sports, the report proposed grading various sports on the basis of risk, like the amount of physical contact. Sports like cricket, badminton and track events pose no risk and competitions can be held with precautions such as using 50% of the capacity of venues with gaps between seats, it said.

Similarly, for cinema halls and auditoriums, it suggested gaps between seats and regular sanitation of venues. Transactions via digital mode for tickets and food should be encouraged, it said.

Recognising the ill-effects of a prolonged gap in learning, the report included a comprehensive set of operating procedures for schools to reopen. These include staggered attendance, avoid sharing of stationary between students and recording of classes for students who chose not to attend.

Source: ET